indianabc
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A Hatchling Earthworm
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Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/03 17:09
Thank you all for providing a great site!
Please excuse the newbie type questions. I have been reading a lot on this site and other places.
I am planning to start some indoor bins for breeding worms for my pet store. At first, I plan just to raise them for our use, but if I can get successful, then maybe I will offer them to our customers.
I am not interested in composting or the great benefits of the worm by-products, because the bins will be at my store. I am planning plastic bins with a bedding of shredded paper and a little mix in of topsoil. I plan to feed worm chow to the bins.
I am open to all thoughts on this. Am I thinking correctly with the bedding and feeding? Are there any publications that you would advise me to read that focus on just the breeding aspect. Everything that I have purchased and read focuses on composting and the like.
I am also open to the types of worms. I need smaller worms what we refer to as red worms. In reading, there certainly seems to be different types of red worms!
Thanks again for all the help!
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redhen
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/03 17:38
indianabc...People raise worms for all kinds of uses. Regardless of whether you are interested in the castings you will get them no matter what the feed.
You can add food scraps from home (or lunch leftovers) and not have to buy worm chow. Your worms will be happy and grow, and you will not be sending your organics needlessly to the landfill.
Susan Quinby-Honer
redhen@nc.rr.com
Starve the Landfill...Feed the Earth. |
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CarolV
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A Juvenile Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/03 19:52
Hi, What a great idea. I wish I had known about raising worms when I had aquarium fish. I would think that when you get the routine worked out, that customers would be very happy to have fresh worms for their fish and any reptiles, etc. Even some birds love worms. The possibilities are limitless!!!
I would suggest raising the worms just like most all do in an indoor situation. In the plastic bins, in good bedding with enough food to allow them to thrive. If you have read a lot of posts, then chose the ingredients that suit you and your needs. Depending on the type of filters on your tanks, you might even add "tank cleanings" to the bedding. I think you will find you can use all of the worms you can produce. You said "pet store". If you have rabbits or guinea pigs, their poo can be used in the bedding, (perhaps not wood shaving bedding). You have many possibilities.
To feed them to fish, there was a thread on "purging" worms that covered several situations, but if they are put into damp cornmeal or other "clean" bedding for a period of time before they are put into the aquarium you will not be adding dirt to the tank.
For size, all of the different species have babies that start out very small and go through the growing stages. Having a method to separate the size you need would be the trick. Perhaps a net feed bag that would only allow up to a certain size worm in would get the smaller ones for you. They can be hand picked out if you have the time.
For very tiny worms, white worms seem to be a natural part of a worm bin. They are extremly tiny and grow in very acid conditions. They would be great for the small tropical fish and frys. Someone on the forum said they grew them just to feed to their fish. Maybe a search for white worms? Maybe a separate bin for them? Once started, scoop out some, rinse, strain, feed.
Good luck on this wonderful addition to your pet store.
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mikel
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A Juvenile Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/03 20:10
Welcome to the Forum!!On the very tiny white worms I think CarolV is talking about pot worms.There is a little info. on breeding and feeding at happydranch.com.
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Krow
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A Hatchling Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/03 22:18
There's also a thread about Neem & vermicomposting about increasing production. I don't know how often you add it and how much.
Deane
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indianabc
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A Hatchling Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/04 08:09
Thank you for the information. I do not have any pets for sale other than aquarium fish so I do not have rabbit waste or anything like that. What I do have an ample never ending supply of is pet hair. Our store has a grooming shop as well. Any thoughts? I have read that I could use the pet hair in my bins and of course, I have read not to. Any thoughts?
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CarolV
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A Juvenile Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/04 08:29
Dog hair - besided possible contaminates like flea and tick products, shampoo, etc. it seems the general rule of thumb is to try it in small quanities. Either put a few worms into their own container with the test material and see how they do. Or, assuming it is clean of contaminates, just put some in one spot of the bedding and again, watch what happens. If it is a good thing, you can add more, if it does not work well, it will be easy to take out. I have not used it, but it might not break down very fast and then create a problem with harvesting. I have found hay that does not break down very fast to be a harvesting "something to deal with" But the worms love it and you might find that the worms also love the pet hair and any problems are worth it in the long run.
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Grimlock
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A Juvenile Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/04 11:05
I also raise worms to feed to my aquarium fish. I would say the best for your situation would be redworms. They breed like crazy, and are the size you want. When I go through my redworm bin there are sizes from adult all the way down to newborns. This would be helpful since your fish probably aren't all the same size. Now if you have to feed larger fish enc's might be a good one to raise up also. They get larger then the reds, and will make it easier to feed larger fish then gathering alot of smaller redworms to fill them up.
I currently feed worms to my Panther Grouper, and my Bamboo cat Shark. I was also feeding them to my catfish and stingrays till I got rid of them.
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indianabc
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A Hatchling Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/04 14:44
GRIMLOCK,
That is perfect! I am on the right track with my bedding? I am curious what your set up is. I also am sad to hear that you got rid of your stingrays - that is something that we specialize in. Rays are one of our best sellers and I just love them! As you know, rays will eat you out of worms prettly quickly! If we did not have stingrays, I probably would not be looking into breeding worms myself. The chilids love the worms as well, but they will eat about anything whereas the rays are more picky!
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Grimlock
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A Juvenile Earthworm
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Re:Worms for aquarium use only - 2006/08/04 15:23
I liked the rays, but they quickly out grew my tank. I have a friend who has a lot of bigger tanks that I give them to. I'm also raising up some tiger muskies which will be going to his tanks eventually.
My redworms I have in an outdoor bin. It's 4'x 2'x 1'. I have 2 lids that are hinged to it. I started them off in COW's (can-o-worms) and then about a month ago moved them to the outdoor bin. They are amazing eaters. I originally bought 10# of them and split it between the 2 COW's. They came with that coir bedding, and I use shredded paper for the additional trays. I would just bury the food scraps under the paper, and in a few days it was gone. I used a food processor to chop it up, and now have a blender (which is faster). It has been really hot + humid here lately yet the redworms are doing fine. They just go down deeper in the bin, and I water them on hot days. I haven't had any problems with them, and when I look through there are all sizes in there. They breed like crazy.
The ENC's (european night crawelers) I got are larger worms. I did lose some from the nasty heat last week. They don't seem to be as tolerant as the reds are. In my experience they don't seem to breed at quite the rate the reds do. I have had a pound of them indoors for a while, and they are just starting to produce capsules. The others I have in the COW's that the redworms were in. They are in shredded paper + newspaper.
Your bedding sounds fine. One of the most important things is to make sure it remains moist. If it doesn't you will kill off your worms. Just check it, and the moisture from the food scraps you add should keep it pretty moist. If not, then you can use a spray bottle or something like that to adjust it. I basically just feed mine vegetable, fruit scraps, coffee grinds, and egg shells. They eat it up along with the paper. I just add more paper as it goes down, and feed away.
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